Given the success of Sex And The City, one would imagine that the days of chastity belts were long gone.

But a leading feminist writer believes today's young women are less interested in sex than those of the previous generation.

In a new article, Erica Jong, 69, explained that where her peers aspired to sexual freedom, her daughter's has a conservative, almost Fifties sensibility, sparking a 'backlash against sex'.

'Backlash against sex': Feminist writer Erica Jong believes that today's young women are less interested in sex than those of her generation

The Fear of Flying author wrote in the New York Times: 'Just as the watchword of my
generation was freedom, that of my daughter's generation seems to be
control.

'Is this just the predictable swing of the pendulum or a new
passion for order in an ever more chaotic world? A little of both. We
idealized open marriage; our daughters are back to idealizing monogamy.'

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Ms Jong revealed that the difference between the generations became clear to her while editing a new anthology of women's sexual writing.

She said that the older contributors to Sugar In My Bowl were more raunchy, while the younger generation's approach to sex was more closely linked to motherhood and marriage.

She explained that there were several factors contributing to the trend, one simply being that daughters will always rebel against choices made by their mothers.

Fifties sensibility: Erica Jong says that young women today aspire to control, rather than freedom, as she did

Indeed Ms Jong's own daughter, Molly Jong-Fast, once wrote an
essay titled: 'They Had Sex So I Didn’t Have To'.

But she also blamed the internet, which she believes appeals to the younger generation because it is a tool they can control.

She wrote: 'The Internet obliges by offering
simulated sex without intimacy, without identity and without fear of
infection... Not only did we fail to corrupt our
daughters, but we gave them a sterile way to have sex, electronically.'

The writer went on to lament how the availability of contraception and abortion has even become a political issue in many states.

The backlash against sex has lasted
longer than the sexual revolution itself,' she wrote.

'Women’s health care is
considered expendable in budgetary negotiations... How far will we go in destroying women’s equality before a new generation of feminists wakes up?'

Since Ms Jong's article was published this weekend, however, she has sparked a backlash of her own.

A response on Feministing.com, published today, read: 'Contrary to being a clinical rejection of passion, the internet is often a wild west of sexual exploration and expression, and young feminists are very often at the helm.'

Erin Gloria Ryan of Jezebel added: 'I've not yet met
one woman in my age group who has divulged to me her extreme preference
for internet porn and sexy texting, to the point that she's chosen to
forego real sex.'

And according to Rosie Gray of the Village Voice, sex is certainly not passe.

'Maybe we're not doused in
patchouli, braless and rolling around in the mud with some hairy fellow
at Woodstock‚' she wrote, '[but] people are having sex, the way people tend to do.'